This invention relates to a pavement marking system used to provide a graphic or legend on a pavement surface. More particularly, this invention relates to a pavement marking system used to provide a graphic or legend on a pavement surface that is subject to frequent resurfacing treatments, such as asphalt pavement surfaces in parking lots.
It is known to provide markings on pavement surfaces to give visual information to drivers of vehicles thereon. Such markings are typically in the form of lane striping and parking space lines. It is also known to provide other graphics or legends on pavement surfaces, such as turn arrows, speed limit information, xe2x80x9cEnterxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cExitxe2x80x9d words, and the like.
Such visual indicia commonly are provided as paint applied directly to the pavement surface. Such painted indicia fade and wear away with time, and such painted indicia must be repainted on a regular basis, resulting in greater expenditures of materials, labor, and time, as well as the inconvenience of having to close off the pavement area while the paint is applied and is allowed to dry. As an alternative to paint, it is known to provide lane striping in the form of a tape material secured to a roadway surface with a primer material as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,902,939, 4,082,587, 4,376,007, 4,708,518, or in the form of a preformed material applied directly to a roadway surface, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,771. Other pavement marking materials are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,555, and in PCT publications WO 99/04099 and WO 99/25928.
Another type of preformed pavement marking product is preformed thermoplastic pavement marking materials sold by the assignee herein under the trademark xe2x80x9cHOTape.xe2x80x9d(copyright) These materials are available in bright colors as either straight line goods or as specialty graphics, such as corporate logos, handicap logos, and word forms such as xe2x80x9cDrive Thruxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cThank You.xe2x80x9d These products are supplied as pre-cut pre-formed thermoplastic pieces, which are easily installed on a pavement surface, such as by fusing in place with a propane-fueled magnum heat gun or flame torch. The bright colors and durability of these products make them especially useful in commercial parking lots where the graphics are used to establish a corporate identity, such as parking lots and restaurant drive-through lanes.
One impediment to the use of such graphic marking systems on asphalt parking lots is the problems that arise when such parking lots require surface treatments or resurfacing. Asphalt parking lots must be surface treated more frequently than conventional roadways. Such surface treatments typically involve the application to the entire surface of the parking lot of a layer of a black coating such as asphalt, simulated asphalt, paint, or other materials used in pavement maintenance. First, a thick bead of the black coating is placed generally around the perimeter of the parking lot and spread such as with a xe2x80x9csqueegeexe2x80x9d to the edges of the lot. The interior surface of the lot is then sprayed with the black coating. Because the black coating has already been spread to the edges of the lot perimeter, it is not necessary to spray the black coating all the way to the edges of the lot, and adjacent areas such as concrete or grass are thereby protected from staining or other damage by the sprayed black coating.
It is not practical, however, to manually outline with the black coating along the edges of thermoplastic legends or images already on the parking lot surface in the form of words, numbers, corporate logos, and the like. When the interior surface of a parking lot having such thermoplastic surface markings is treated with a black coating, then either the area having such markings is not treated with the black coating, by placing a shield or cover over the legend or image, or else the black coating is applied over the entire surface including the thermoplastic markings, in which case the thermoplastic markings could become discolored or otherwise damaged by the black coating.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a pavement marking system suitable for providing legends such as corporate or other logos or alphanumeric information on pavement surfaces that from time to time require surface treatments such as a black coating.
The instant invention relates to a pavement marking system for providing a visible legend on a pavement surface, the system comprising a background layer of a thermoplastic material in the form of pre-cut, preformed thermoplastic for providing a contrasting background color for the visible legend, the background layer being adapted to be affixed to a pavement surface, and a legend layer comprising at least one piece of pre-cut, preformed thermoplastic in a color contrasting with the color of the background layer, the legend layer capable of being affixed in cooperation with the background layer to provide a visible message on a pavement surface. The legend layer is affixed in cooperation with the background layer to the extent that the legend layer can be applied either directly to the background layer, or it can be applied to the pavement surface in an in-laid manner through precut holes of corresponding size and shape in the background layer. Preferably, the outer edge of the background layer defines a simple geometric shape such as a square, rectangle, or circle, depending on the shape of the associated legend, and preferably the color of the background layer is black. When an asphalt area such as a parking lot and having thereon a pavement marking system of the instant invention is surface treated with a black coating, the black coating can be applied on the pavement surface up to and slightly over the edge of the background layer, without contacting the legend layer. The black coating can then be applied to the remainder of the asphalt surface without coming in contact with any part of the legend layer.